1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to a hyposensitization agent. More particularly, the present invention relates to a hyposensitization agent comprising a saccharide covalently attached to a cedar pollen allergen having a partial amino acid sequence of Ala-Ile-Asn-Ile-Phe-Asn- beginning at its N-terminal.
2. Abbreviations
Ala: alanine residue PA0 Arg: arginine residue PA0 Asn: asparagine residue PA0 Asp: aspartic acid residue PA0 Gln: glutamine residue PA0 Glu: glutamic acid residue PA0 Gly: glycine residue PA0 Ile: isoleucine residue PA0 Lys: lysine residue PA0 Met: methionine residue PA0 Phe: phenylalanine residue PA0 Pro: proline residue PA0 Ser: serine residue PA0 Trp: tryptophane residue PA0 Tyr tyrosine residue PA0 Val: valine residue PA0 Each amino acid residue is L-configuration.
3. Description of the prior art
Cedar pollinosis is an allergic disease caused by a cedar pollen scattered from blooming cedars.
Recently, the number of cedar pollinosis patients is gradually increasing in Japan with the increment of areas under cedar afforestation. Although cedar pollinosis seasonally occurs, it is not disregardable in view of the public health.
In conventional therapy, for example, steroid hormone or disodium cromoglycate is administered. Such therapy is a symptomatic treatment which temporally relieves a symptom of a patient.
While administration of intact cedar pollen allergen responsible for cedar pollinosis has been attempted to effect hyposensitization in order to completely cure cedar pollinosis.
Such hyposensitization, however, has the drawbacks that it has a fear of eliciting anaphylaxis from the cedar pollen allergen used, and that treatment using the cedar pollen allergen should be continued for a long time, i.e. about 3 years, because a small amount of the cedar pollen allergen is repeatedly administered to a cedar pollinosis patient in order to avoid such anaphylaxis.
Furthermore, cedar pollen allergen should be carefully handled because it is readily adsorbed on vessels such as glassware and metalware, and, in hyposensitization, this renders the administration of a prescribed amount of cedar pollen allergen very difficult.